Floods in Tennessee: at least 21 dead and dozens missing | Record of precipitation and river flooding

At least 21 people have died and dozens remain missing in the state of Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States, due to flooding caused by heavy and historic rains, which recorded up to 38 centimeters of precipitation in 24 hours.

The storm has persisted since Saturday and its consequences are felt in rural roads, destroyed roads and bridges, while thousands of people were without electricity.

State Governor Bill Lee described scenes of “loss and pain” in Waverly, a town of 4,500 people, where 20 of the 21 confirmed deaths have died so far. “Our hearts and prayers must go out to the people of this community,” Lee said at a press conference.

Rainstorm and flooding of rivers

The town on the Tennessee River is in Humphreys County, about 90 minutes from Nashville – the state capital – which has been one of the hardest hit and has recorded 24-hour record rainfall. according to the National Weather Service.

Due to torrential rain, the Piney River in neighboring Hickman County rose nearly 3.6 meters above its all-time high.

Police Chief Grant Gillespie said the other death occurred in a rural area in another part of the county, adding that some 20 people are still missing. “We hope to reach the bottom of this list,” said Gillespie.

Night curfew

The authorities imposed a night curfew as efforts to locate the missing continued. For his part, Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis told local CNN-affiliated television that among the deceased were two small children while six others were missing today.

Relief operations continued on Sunday with workers going house to house looking for victims or people in need of help. Karen Phair, 61, told local newspaper The Tennessean that Waverly looked like a “war zone”. Another county resident, Rickey Larkin, 62, told the New York Times that he and his wife they had to hang on to a mattress as a lifeline after an “ocean” flooded their home.

Dramatic scenes

The Waverly Department of Public Safety posted a list of names of missing persons on its Facebook page and asked local residents to help locate them. Yesterday afternoon, the president Joe Biden gave a press conference in Washington where he offered his “deepest condolences for the sudden and tragic loss of life” in Tennessee.

“I asked the administrator of FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) to speak immediately with Governor Lee of Tennessee,” Biden said, noting that the White House was at the state’s disposal. south, home of country music and rock and Roll.

Photos posted on social media showed a row of houses almost submerged in brown water, cars overturned or piled on top of each other, and roads covered in mud and debris.